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This collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items related to the Parsons, Gerrish, and Lewis families of York County, Maine. Most of the material directly relates to Edwin Parsons; his first cousin, Abigail Lewis; and her husband, Benjamin H. Gerrish.

This collection is made up of correspondence, financial records, and other items related to the Parsons, Gerrish, and Lewis families of York County, Maine. Most of the material directly relates to Edwin Parsons; his first cousin, Abigail Lewis; and her husband, Benjamin H. Gerrish.

The Correspondence series (around 400 items) comprises the bulk of the collection; most items are incoming and outgoing letters of Edwin Parsons and Abigail Lewis Gerrish. Both Parsons and Gerrish received personal letters from their uncle, Usher Parsons of Providence, Rhode Island. Many of the earliest items are incoming business letters to Edwin Parsons and Edward's letters to his parents about life in Savannah, Georgia. Isaac Scott wrote to Parsons about cotton sales and specific business matters pertaining to the firm J. D. Carhart & Scott. He also mentioned his desire to purchase a male slave (January 15, 1846) and a house in Macon, Georgia. One of Edwin Parsons's letters refers to a woman's fear that her children would begin speaking in an African American dialect after living in Savannah (May 26, 1844). Around 1850, Abigail Lewis Gerrish began to receive personal letters from female friends and family members (often from Charlestown, Massachusetts). Her correspondents included her brother, William Lewis, who also occasionally wrote to her husband, Benjamin H. Gerrish. Though many correspondents wrote to Gerrish during the Civil War, few directly referred to fighting.

The Documents series (15 items) is comprised of indentures and other documents of Benjamin H. Gerrish and Oliver Parsons. Many of the items concern real and personal property; two pertain to the estates of Elizabeth Gerrish and Samuel Hill. One indenture binds Charles Tucker to Benjamin H. Gerrish to learn the art of farming.

Most of the Financial Papers and Receipts (around 130 items, 1785-1889) relate to the financial affairs of Benjamin H. Gerrish of South Berwick, Maine. Items include partially printed and manuscript account books, receipts, and other documents. Other individuals represented are Miriam Gerrish, Betsey Gerrish, Elizabeth F. Gerrish, Daniel Lewis, John Lewis, and members of the Parsons family. The materials relate to goods and services, surveying, railroads, and estate administration. The 7 account books belonged to Joseph U. Parsons, E[dwin] Parsons, and unidentified individuals. Accounts primarily relate to personal expenses, mostly in Savannah, Georgia. A book belonging to Benjamin H. Gerrish concerns land in South Berwick, Maine.

The Fragments and Miscellaneous series (26 items) is made up of manuscript, printed, and ephemeral items, including notes, calling and visiting cards, recipes, two lists of property on "Fairbanks Farm" in Holliston, Massachusetts, a blank form from the Maine Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and a copy of the Eastern Star newspaper (February 7, 1879). Thirteen items are fragments of letters, financial records, or other items.

The William Eighinger ledger contains two sections: a ledger kept by a Baltimore shipping merchant between 1798 and 1801 and math problems and copied compositions compiled by George Eighinger in 1850. The accounts pertain to the shipment of goods between North America, the Caribbean, and Germany, and the copied material includes a narrative told from the point of view of a slave.

This volume contains 2 sections: a ledger kept by a Baltimore shipping merchant between 1798 and 1801 (about 105 pages) and math problems and copied compositions compiled by George Eighinger in 1850 (5 pages).

The financial records intermittently cover the period from October 1, 1798, to June 24, 1801, on pages numbered 47-144 and 188-211; some pages have been torn from the book. The accounts concern the affairs of a Baltimore shipping merchant who imported linens and other items from Europe while exporting coffee, tobacco, sugar, and other goods to Bremen, Hamburg, and other German ports. Each entry reflects a transaction with a merchant, and the ledger often records the names of the ships carrying the cargo, as well as inventories, prices, the names of shipmasters, and consignment agents' marks. The ledger occasionally includes costs of storage or insurance. On December 31, 1799, the bookkeeper recorded "postage of 1798 & 1799" (pp. 131-133). Cartoonish drawings illustrate a few pages throughout the accounts (e.g. pages 93 and 239).

The pages numbered 235-239 contain arithmetic problems, copied prose, and cartoons by George Eighinger, who received the book from Nash G. Camp on March 4, 1850. The pages, which are labeled "Compound Subtraction" and "Compound Addition," include a narrative told from the point of view of a slave (p. 235).